Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Sharadul Thakur is the latest entrant
.. .. .. Kapil Dev was the crowning glory ~ there were talks that Yograj Singh
and Thirumalai Ananthanpillai Sekhar were much faster ! ~ when Umesh Yadav took
10 wickets in a home test, thoughts meandered to the way, India handled new
ball – in 1970s – when the spin quartet dominated, Eknath Solkar would bowl a
couple of overs, even sunil Gavaskar bowled a couple – ball would be rolled
from third man and fineleg and then Bishan Bedi would take over (the quartet
could consistently wrap the opponents below 200 is another aspect !)

There were times when we read about
camps before Overseas tours, when Barun Burman, Jyoti Prasad .. .. came close
to selection and a young lad Kapil Dev was denied extra rotis, stating that
there are no pace bowlers in India.Life
has changed .. .. remember that in Chennai 1st division league there
were young lads bowling fast – not only locals like Rajamannar, Bharathkumar,
Arunkumar, Kalyanasundaram, TA Sekhar, Arun – but from MRF - Vivek Razdan,
Subroto Banerjee and Ashish Winston Zaidi.

1980s was the tale of pace battery of
West Indies – they kept coming – fearsome Holder, Roberts, Holding, Daniel, Crofts, Garner, Marshall,
Bishop, Ambrose, Patterson, Walsh .. .. all could hurtle at great pace and make the
ball climb awkwardly not only from a short length but at times coil it up from
close to good length, making the life miserable for batsmen. Aussies had their
own Thompson, Lillie, Pascoe, Mcdermoot, Bret Lee, Kiwis had some like Bond,
Pak keep producing some genuine quickies like Akhthar, Mohd Aamir, Wasim Akram,
Waqar and more.

MRF did provide a good platform and
trained some Indian aspirants which includeVivek Razdan, Javagal Srinath,
Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Venkatesh Prasad, R. P. Singh, Zaheer Khan and
Shanthakumaran Sreesanth. Sachin Tendulkar in his school days trained in
the MRF Pace Foundation to become a fast bowler ! Khaleel Ahmed becomes the latest name, who
joined the Indian Cricket Team for the Asia Cup coming from MRF pace Foundation.The MRF Pace foundation was set up in Chennai
in 1987 – Dennis Lillee was the head coach, later the tall TA Sekhar, later
Glen McGrath.

This is about a real pacer who has
since played 9 tests taking 18 wickets and equal no. of one dayers with 11
wickets – struggling because of nagging injuries.

In Chepauk nets, we liked watching
Karsan Devraj Ghavri bowl [in Buchibabu too] ~ unfortunately, for long he had
the ignominy of being the most expensive Indian bowler in Onedayers for that 83
off 11 overs in the inaugural match of Prudential World Cup 1975.Lewis now has the dubious distinction of the
most expensive ODI bowler with figures of 10-0-113-0 in that multiple
record-breaking 5th One Day International between South Africa and Australia.

In Asia Cup 2014, at Fatullah,
Varun Aaron was fast and furious but not fearsome… for once an Indian bowler
was seen bursting out genuine speed. AtKhan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, he maintained an average speed of
88.2mph, and his fastest delivery clocked 93.2mph on the speedgun. That's
149.99kph. I was excited at his speed; as also that of Umesh Yadav – and both went
for runs………

In a country starved of
genuinely quick bowlers, Varun Aaron grabbed the headlines when he hit 153 kph
during the 2010-11 Vijay Hazare Trophy final against Gujarat. Hailing from
Jharkhand, Aaron has been part of the MRF Pace Academy in Chennai since he was
spotted by a talent scout at the age of 15. However, his career has been marred
with frequent injuries. Read in Cricinfo - Seven stress fractures have slowed
down Varun Aaron's career, but he still retains the "madness" to bowl
fast and hopes to work his way back into national reckoning or at least the A
team. "The madness to bowl fast is still there even after seven stress
fractures," Aaron told ESPNcricinfo. "If I wanted to cut down on pace
or go by the safer route, I'd have done it by now. Fast bowling in India isn't
easy because of the wickets and conditions too, but it's fun at the end of the
day when you see the ball thudding into the keeper's gloves." India's
fast-bowling resources are well-stacked now, but the desire to get back to
doing what he did in Bengaluru in 2015 still exists.

Aaron last played for
India in the Bengaluru Test against South Africa in 2015, when he bowled an
absolute beauty that straightened late and hit the top of Hashim Amla's off
stump. He has now returned to Bengaluru as one of Jharkhand's senior players
for the 2018-19 Vijay Hazare knockouts. He had played a vital role in Jharkhand
topping Group B with seven wins in nine games (the other two were washed out),
taking at least three wickets in each of his last four matches in the
enervating Chennai heat. Aaron attributed his improved fitness and rhythm to
his county stint with Leicestershire, after "surprisingly" finding no
takers at the 2018 IPL auction.

Aaron has added an
inswinger and cutters to his repertoire, which is serving him well in the Vijay
Hazare Trophy. One such slower cutter tricked Tamil Nadu captain B Indrajith
and tipped a thriller Jharkhand's way in the Chennai leg of the tournament. Jharkhand
had lost won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2010-11, when Aaron cranked upto
153kph. Can they regain the title this season? Aaron, certainly, believes so.